Don't need barbaric punishments, need prompt justice: Amartya Sen

Kolkata: Stating that 9 percent more rapes occurred in Delhi over Kolkata, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen Monday said the fact should not make the people in the West Bengal capital become complacent.

"Delhi has 9 percent more rapes than Kolkata. The fact that rape occurs less in Kolkata might be a reason for the people to be happy, but not a reason to be satisfied. What happens in Delhi also occurs at times in Kolkata," remarked Sen during an interactive programme here.

Observing that capital punishment has not been a successful deterrent, he said a public movement should be there to ensure effective functioning of the justice delivery system and not seeking death penalty for culprits.

"There is no scientific reason to believe that more severe is the punishment, the greater is the justice. Instead of demanding for a severe and barbaric punishment, efforts should be there to ensure that the justice delivery system acts promptly," Sen said.

Condemning the Dec 16 brutal gang rape of a 23 year old in New Delhi, Sen said the capital ranked first in terms of rape committed in comparison to the other three metros- Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Following the death of the gang-rape victim, there has been a national outrage with people coming out in the streets demanding death for the culprits.

Sen also said that there were violations of human rights by the government.

"Of course there are instances where the government has been guilty of violating human rights. There are legal recourse to be taken in case of infringements of human rights.

"Those who think that just because the state also violates human rights, the whole concept of state should be disbanded; I do not concur with them. We must remember we live in a democracy," added Sen.